Ministry of Defence

Veterans: Training

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all service leavers undertake resettlement training with Career Transition Partnership.

Earl Howe: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) ensures that when Armed Forces personnel leave active service they are well supported to translate their acquired skills, experience and qualifications into the career they aspire to. The skills that Service leavers possess are in demand from UK employers who recognise the benefits of bringing this talent into their organisations.To support this transition, the MOD has a robust and effective resettlement system in place which utilises the highly successful Career Transition Partnership (CTP). In Financial Year 2015-16 the CTP helped 80 per cent of Service leavers find sustainable employment within six months of leaving the Armed Forces. This compares favourably to an employment rate of 74 per cent in the general UK population.The CTP is the MOD's official provider of resettlement services to those leaving the Armed Forces and provides one-to-one guidance, training and employment opportunities to around 15,000 Service leavers that leave the Armed Forces each year. All personnel are eligible for the CTP resettlement provision including those medically discharged, or leaving the Armed Forces due to redundancy. Personnel with less than four years' Service receive CTP Future Horizons. Personnel with between four and five years' Service receive the Employment Support Programme. Personnel with at least six years' Service receive an enhanced service - the Core Resettlement Programme. These free resettlement services are offered to all ranks of Service personnel and offer flexible support which can be accessed two years before discharge, through to two years post-discharge in order to ensure that making the transition to civilian life is as smooth as possible.After a Service leaver has received their mandatory Resettlement Advisory Briefing, the remainder of the resettlement provision is an elective process. However, all Service leavers are very strongly encouraged to take up the support offered, both by the Chain of Command and through promotional material.

Iraq: Military Intervention

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to increase the number of British troops deployed to Iraq.

Earl Howe: The UK has no current plans to increase the number of troops deployed in Iraq. However, we keep this under review to ensure we have the right number of troops deployed with the appropriate permissions to support the training of Iraqi forces.Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable and are deployed across the country in counter-Daesh roles. As the Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) announced on 30 January 2017 (Official Report, column 656), he recently authorised UK personnel to deliver training where needed at secure and protected locations in Iraq in addition to training at the main bases of Besmayah, Taji and Al Asad. This aligns with our approach in the Kurdish region and ensures UK personnel will continue to deliver the infantry skills, counter-IED, combat first aid and engineering training Iraqi forces require.

Ministry of Defence: Civilians

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to reduce the number of civilian personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence from 56,430 to 41,000, as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

Earl Howe: The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review directed the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to reduce its civilian headcount by 30 per cent by 2020. This is Government policy and we will take an approach to this that does not diminish either our people or Defence.We need to be sure that we are always getting maximum value for the taxpayer. Wherever possible we will rebalance our investments towards the front line - this means reshaping the MOD Civil Service workforce to focus on its core Civil Servant roles.A central part of making the MOD Civil Service more innovative and more efficient is reorganising work so that it is done in the best place possible - by civilian, military or contractor personnel. In a number of cases, this may mean using alternative delivery models, such as outsourcing, amongst others.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 20 January (HL4640), what are the short- and long-term plans they have in place to ensure that the offer of military service in the armed forces continues to be competitive.

Earl Howe: The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review committed Defence to develop a new Armed Forces offer (remunerative and non-remunerative) for new joiners from April 2019, which better meets the expectations of future recruits and targets resources on the people we need most. It will better reflect the realities of modern life and the UK's current financial position, whilst taking account of the unique demands that military service imposes on its people.A range of major People Change Programmes are currently underway, which will collectively ensure we are well positioned for future strategic challenges. This is a challenging portfolio of projects with tight timelines for delivery and includes the New Employment Model (NEM), Future Reserves 2020 (FR20), the Defence Diversity and Inclusion Programme (DDIP) and the Armed Forces People Programme (AFPP). The AFPP comprises four projects: Future Accommodation Model (FAM); Flexible Engagements System (FES); New Joiner Offer (NJO); and, Enterprise Approach (EA).

EU Defence Policy

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UK's future involvement in the EU's foreign security and defence missions.

Earl Howe: The UK is one of Europe's biggest military powers: we make a significant contribution to Common Security and Defence Policy SDP military operations and civilian missions; we are committed to spending 2 per cent of our GDP on Defence, with 20 per cent of that on upgrading major equipment; and we spend a further 0.7 per cent of our GNI on international development. In addition, our diplomatic, security, and intelligence services are world class, and, as a nuclear power, and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, we have major global reach and influence.The nature of our future relationship with the EU on foreign, security, and Defence issues remains under consideration. We are, however, clear that we will continue to play a leading role in European and wider global security, and wish to continue to cooperate with European partners to tackle shared challenges.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 12 January (HL Deb, col 2159) concerning the future capability of the armed forces, whether HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail for sea trials in March, and enter Portsmouth for the first time before the summer solstice.

Earl Howe: I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Harriett Baldwin), on 23 January 2017 to Question 60000.



60000 - WQnA extract on HMS Queen Elizabeth
(Word Document, 12.67 KB)

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Nuclear Reactors

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following completion of phase one of their assessment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and in the light of international competition, when they will release the roadmap of the way forward for SMRs.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Policy development is under way for small modular reactors. Phase One of the competition remains open, and plans for the future of the competition will be shared with the House in due course.

Companies: Registration

Baroness Altmann: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 December 2016 (HL4007) and 28 December 2016 (HL4008), what due diligence is undertaken to guard against international scams where a new company sets up in the UK with only an overseas bank account or credit card, and no domestic banking arrangements.

Lord Prior of Brampton: A company incorporated in the UK which has banking arrangements overseas but not in the UK would be subject to the due diligence checks by the bank required by the local law where the branch of the bank is located. A company which incorporates in the UK but carries on its business outside the UK may still use the services of UK agents, who may carry out due diligence checks, whether voluntarily or as required by UK law.

Business: Billing

Lord Foster of Bath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps will be taken to ensure that data to be collected under the draft regulations on the duty to report on payment practices and policies will be made accessible to (1) small firms, and (2) third party intermediaries.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government will provide a web service for businesses to publish information about their payment practices and performance. This will be available from April 2017 and will be part of the Gov.uk website. Small firms, suppliers, and other interested parties will be able to view the information as soon as a business publishes it. The web service is currently being developed with input from potential users to ensure it is easy to access.

Business: Billing

Lord Foster of Bath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the data to be provided by large firms under the draft regulations on the duty to report on payment practices and policies will be verified for accuracy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The information must be approved by a company director (or designated member of an LLP) before the large business publishes it. Suppliers using the information can raise any concerns about its accuracy with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who will investigate. It will be a criminal offence to publish a report or information that is misleading, false or deceptive.

Business: Billing

Lord Foster of Bath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether data to be provided by large firms under the draft regulations on the duty to report on payment practices and policies will be collated and then published in a format which will allow for comparison between those firms.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government will provide a web service for businesses to publish information about their payment practices and performance. The reports will be available online for anyone to scrutinise.The web service is currently being developed with input from potential users. Data collation and comparison is being investigated as part of this. We expect that collated data will be downloadable and/or available on data.gov.uk.

Business: Billing

Lord Foster of Bath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the penalties for large firms that fail to comply with the duty to report on payment practices and policies.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Failure to publish a report as required will be a criminal offence. The company and its directors, or LLP and its designated members, will be liable. It will also be an offence to publish false or misleading information.These offences will be punishable on summary conviction (in the Magistrates’ court) by a fine. If a concern is raised with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that a large business might not have complied, the business will usually be contacted to remind them to comply and seek an explanation for non-compliance or discrepancies.

Small Business Commissioner

Lord Foster of Bath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Small Business Commissioner’s remit will include tackling the issue of supply chain bullying.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Small Business Commissioner (SBC) will support small businesses to resolve payment disputes and avoid future issues by encouraging a culture change in how businesses deal with each other.The SBC will provide general advice and information to build the confidence and capability of small business to help them assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively. It will also handle complaints by small suppliers about payment-related issues with their larger customers.

Department for International Development

Sierra Leone: Education

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will support the government of Sierra Leone in keeping teenage girls in school.

Lord Bates: In 2015, as the Ebola outbreak was coming under control, the UK agreed new support to enable them to return to school. To date over 14,500 girls have benefited and over 9,500 have returned to school.In addition, in 2016 DFID initiated the Sierra Leone Secondary Education Improvement Programme which will improve the conditions for girls in secondary schools and enable 700,000 additional girls to improve their learning, stay safe and to stay in school.

Humanitarian Aid

Lord Bruce of Bennachie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on humanitarian assistance for each of the last three financial years; and what proportion of ODA was comprised of humanitarian assistance in each of the last three financial years.

Lord Bates: The amount of UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on humanitarian assistance for the last three calendar years, and the proportion of UK ODA, is set out in the table below.Table: Total UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on humanitarian assistance, 2013-2015, £ million .Humanitarian assistance (£ million)Total UK bilateral ODA (£ million)Humanitarian assistance as a % of total UK bilateral ODA20138266,72012%20141,1196,82216%20151,2667,66417%Source: Statistics on International Development 2016

Department for Education

Free School Meals

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Department for Education’s electronic eligibility checking system to encourage more parents to take their child’s free school meal entitlement.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education introduced the eligibility checking system (ECS) to reduce administrative burden and bureaucracy; speed up the eligibility checking process; and to encourage take-up of Free School Meals (FSM) by removing stigma from the application process. The ECS has been incredibly successful and is used by every local authority in England. The introduction of the ECS has reduced the time normally taken to check eligibility from several weeks to a matter of minutes in most cases, massively speeding up the process to ensure free meals are swiftly made available to the most disadvantaged students. No research has been conducted specifically looking at the link between the introduction of the ECS and FSM take-up, however, we do know that under-registration dropped by 3 percentage points[1] from 2012 to 2013. There are numerous reasons why a parent/child might not claim for a free meal to which they are entitled, and we are exploring what opportunities exist in the longer term to improve the way in which disadvantaged pupils are identified and to make the free school meals registration processes even more efficient. [1] Furtehr details are available in the attached document.



Pupils_Not_Claiming_Free_School_meals_-_2013
(PDF Document, 844.17 KB)

Free Schools

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the procedure for increasing the previously agreed size of a particular free school.

Lord Nash: All schools have a capacity number written into their funding agreement. Should an academy, including a free school, wish to increase their capacity by 30 places or more, they must apply for approval of a physical expansion of the academy premises. This is set out in the ‘significant changes to an existing academy’ guidance. If they change their admission arrangements at the same time, they must follow the requirements of the ‘school admissions code’. Both guidance documents are published on gov.uk copies have been attached.



School_Admissions_Code_2014
(PDF Document, 681.56 KB)




Making_significant_changes_to_an_academy
(PDF Document, 407.67 KB)

Enterprise Advisers

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools in England engage with Enterprise Advisers.

Lord Nash: We are investing £90m over this Parliament to ensure that every young person has equal access to the life-changing advice and inspiration that they need to fulfil their potential and succeed in life. This includes funding for The Careers & Enterprise Company.The Company is continuing to make excellent progress towards transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people. Over 1,300 secondary schools and colleges across the country have signed up to the Company’s Enterprise Adviser Network. Of those that have signed up, 1,200 are secondary schools, with 957 matched with an Enterprise Adviser volunteer.

Ministry of Justice

Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ratify the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements on behalf of the UK in its own right.

Lord Keen of Elie: The Government recognises the importance of the mutual recognition of choices of law and courts, and the enforcement of judgments across borders, for maintaining confidence in international trade and business. We will work to ensure the best outcome for the UK, including its consumers and businesses. It is in the interests of all countries who want to do business here that we maintain a system of civil judicial cooperation when we leave the EU.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Baroness Afshar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what requirements they have set for community rehabilitation companies to make specific arrangements for the rehabilitation of minority groups whose first language is not English.

Lord Keen of Elie: We have given Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) the flexibility to innovate and do what works to reduce reoffending, including tailoring rehabilitative support to offenders based on their individual needs. To promote equality of opportunity and avoid discrimination against offenders on the grounds of protected characteristics, CRCs are required to comply with relevant equalities and human rights legislation as they work with offenders. Whilst not defined in law as a protected characteristic, we have taken steps to ensure that language is not a barrier to an individual’s rehabilitation. At the beginning of each sentence, CRCs are contractually required to arrange a face to face interview to assess each offender’s risk profile and rehabilitative needs. This informs the initial sentence plan, which the CRC must explain to the offender verbally and in writing to ensure they understand how they must behave and what they must do to comply with their sentence. The CRC must also seek confirmation that the offender has understood this explanation. Where the offender understands insufficient English to enable this, CRC must undertake the initial interview and provide confirmation of the sentence plan in a language they were able to understand.

Prosecutions

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions took place in England and Wales in (1) 2015, and (2) 2016.

Lord Keen of Elie: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts in England and Wales, in 2015 (the latest available) is 1,492,155. The number of defendants proceeded against at Crown Courts in England and Wales in 2015 was 87,878; some of these may have had their initial hearing in Magistrates Courts prior to 2015. Data for calendar year 2016 is due for publication in May 2017.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Arts: Exports

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will research and publish the figures for UK creative industry exports to every European country, including those outside the EU.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: Following the release of the DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates publication in August 2016, we issued a consultation which included a question on the countries for which users would like us to publish exports of services figures. The DCMS response to this consultation will be published in February 2017, and will provide details on any additional breakdowns we will publish in future. As these estimates are based on survey data, the extent to which we can publish results for individual countries may be constrained by sample sizes.

Arts: Exports

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries are categorised as being within Europe in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2016 spreadsheet Creative Industries: Focus on Exports of Services.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: The following countries were categorised as being within Europe in the 2016 DCMS Creative Industries: Focus on Exports of Services publication: AustriaBelgiumBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrish RepublicIsle of ManItalyLatviaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandThe Channel Islands

Voluntary Work: Young People

Lord Bird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that National Citizen Service participants experience citizenship education and political literacy as part of any programmes they undertake.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: The NCS Trust is being incorporated as a Royal Charter body. The Charter specifies that the Trust must have regard to 'encouraging participants to take an interest in debate on matters of local or national political interest, and promoting their understanding of how to participate in national and local elections.' NCS is not primarily a citizenship education programme; it is about broader personal development and social mixing. Nonetheless government wants NCS to provide young people with the opportunity to develop a range of skills, including political literacy. Later this year, Government plans to publish guidance on NCS for schools and colleges, which will include a link to citizenship education.

Voluntary Work

Lord Bird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to help social action projects overcome their hidden costs; and what steps they are taking to ensure that social action projects are youth-led.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: Government is supporting social action to grow and become part of the normal routine in public services and communities. Through the Centre for Social Action, Government has invested over £40m in helping grow 215 impactful programmes involving over 2 million volunteers across the country. Government continues to support Step Up to Serve’s #iwill campaign which aims to increase the opportunities for 10-20 year olds to take part in meaningful youth lead social action by 2020. The recently launched £40 million #iwill Fund jointly funded by government and Big Lottery Fund will help to increase the number of opportunities available to young people.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Water Abstraction: Licensing

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the abstraction licences relating to the abstraction of water from (1) Thirlmere Reservoir, (2) Kielder Reservoir, and (3) Haweswater Reservoir.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Environment Agency maintains a register (The Water Abstraction and Impounding register) of all abstraction licences under the requirements of section 189 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and prescribed by Regulation 34 of SI 2006/641, the Water Resources (Abstraction & Impounding) Regulations 2006. The Environment Agency does not routinely publish the licences because these include the precise locations of abstraction points for public water supply which cannot be made generally available on national security and public safety grounds. The Kielder agreement is a Section 20 Water Resources Operating Agreement between the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water Limited which has been in operation since 1989. It describes how the water should be released from Kielder to secure the proper use of water resources. Due to the operating agreement there is no abstraction licence relating to the abstraction of water from Kielder. Releases are made from the reservoir to support abstractions from rivers downstream and, via the Kielder transfer tunnel, from other rivers in the north east area.

Air Pollution

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many national air pollution episodes there have been since May 2014; how many days in total those episodes covered; and what is their estimate of the health impacts in terms of deaths and hospital admissions as a result of those episodes.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: An air pollution episode is defined as a period during which the level of any measured pollutant monitored by the UK’s network of air pollution monitoring sites has recorded High or Very High against the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI). Also, when Ozone is measured to have breached the Information threshold of 180 micrograms per cubic metre for 1 hour (as defined in Air Quality legislation) this is classified as an air pollution episode. Since the beginning of May 2014 there have been 27 air pollution episodes which have affected parts of the UK and have lasted for a combined total of 57 days. No two air pollution episodes are the same. They vary in duration, intensity, geographical spread and the nature of the pollutants involved. For these reasons it is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the combined health impacts resulting from the 27 episodes in terms of deaths and hospital admissions. A 2016 study undertaken by Public Health England in collaboration with the Met Office, looked at two air pollution episodes (related to particulate matter, PM2.5) from 12 to 14 March and 28 March to 3 April 2014. The study found that over the 10-day duration of the two episodes, around 600 deaths were brought forward from short-term exposure to PM2.5 (3.9% of total mortality during these days). We would expect around 300 of these deaths to be brought forward had there been more typical springtime concentrations of PM2.5. The total burden of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular causes associated with short-term exposure to PM2.5 was estimated to be around 1500 across the UK (around 3.5% of total emergency respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions). Around 785 of these would be expected from more typical pollution levels at this time of year. The Government is firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions. That is why we have committed more than £2 billion since 2011 to reduce transport emissions and the autumn statement provided a further £290 million to support greener transport. We will also be consulting on a new national plan for nitrogen dioxide by 24 April.

Home Office

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to publish a national action plan on female genital mutilation in England; and if so, when.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Female Genital Mutilation is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. That is why our work to end this practice is an integral part of the Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published March 2016. The strategy sets out how we will support a transformation in service delivery and a step change in social action to ensure a reduction in the prevalence of these crimes, including FGM. Specific actions to address FGM include working with faith leaders, improving police data collection on FGM, continuing the outreach work of the FGM Unit, and addressing the mental health needs of those affected. Many of the issues addressed by the VAWG strategy are cross-cutting, including engaging men, ensuring a whole family approach and improving the commissioning of services. We will ensure that tackling FGM is integral to these actions and is also addressed as part of our work to strengthen early intervention and transform service provision.

Human Trafficking: Children

Lord Smith of Hindhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children under 16 years of age were identified as potentially trafficked through the National Referral Mechanism in each year between 2010 and 2014.

Lord Smith of Hindhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children under (1) 12 years of age, and (2) 10 years of age, were identified as potentially trafficked through the National Referral Mechanism in each year between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Smith of Hindhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 12 January (HL4245), what is the breakdown of the countries of origin of the 365 children who were removed from premises where they were being exploited as modern slaves in the year 2015.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Government views the slavery, including trafficking, of children as a very serious offence, and one which it is committed to tackling. The NRM is the UK’s identification and support mechanism for potential victims of modern slavery. The table below shows:a) the number children under the age of 16 that were referred to the NRM as potentially trafficked in each year between 2010 and 2015:b) the number children under 12 years of age that were referred to the NRM as potentially trafficked in each year between 2010 and 2015;c) the number children under 10 years of age that were referred to the NRM as potentially trafficked in each year between 2010 and 2015. YearTotal Potential Victims under 16 at Time of Referral (NB. This does not include those aged 16.)Total Potential Victims under 12 years (NB. This does not include those aged 12 years)Total Potential Victims under 10 years (NB. This does not include those aged 10 years)201070149201195352720121265241201317247342014293886820153656139 The table below provides the breakdown of the countries of origin of the 365 children who were identified as potentially trafficked via an NRM referral in the year 2015. Nationality/ Country of OriginTotalAfghanistan24Albania51Angola5Bangladesh7Bulgaria5Cameroon1China2Czech Republic7Democratic Republic of the Congo6Egypt4Eritrea9Ethiopia2Ghana3Guinea1Guinea / Portugal1India1Iran4Iraq4Israel1Ivory Coast1Latvia1Lithuania2Nigeria17Pakistan2Poland2Portugal1Romania13Serbia/Kosovo1Slovakia8Somalia1Spain2Sri Lanka3Sudan4Syria3Timor - Leste3Tunisia1Turkey1Uganda1United Kingdom55United Kingdom/Vietnam1United States of America5Unknown3Vietnam93Zambia2Zimbabwe1Total365

Asylum: Young People

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers were deported upon reaching 18 years of age in (1) 2012, (2) 2013, (3) 2014, and (4) 2015.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The number of enforced returns by age is published in table rt_03 (returns data tables) in ‘Immigration Statistics, July - September 2016’, available from the Home Office website at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572380/returns2-q3-2016-tables.ods.The table has also been attached to this answer.The term 'deportations' refers to a legal definition of a specific set of returns. Deportations are a specific subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. Published information on those deported is not separately available. As such, the question has been interpreted as referring to enforced returns. In an enforced return, it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and / or has no valid leave to remain in the UK. They have declined to leave voluntarily and the Home Office enforces their departure from the UK.



Immigration Data Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 29.5 KB)

Asylum: Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to maintain contact with asylum-seeking minors who were dispersed from the camps in Calais and Dunkirk in Autumn 2016.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The responsibility for unaccompanied children in France lies with the French authorities. The UK Government can only contribute in ways agreed with our French partners. We have been working closely with the French authorities to bring children eligible to come here under the Dublin Regulation and the wider criteria of the Immigration Act since the clearance of the Calais camp in October 2016. Our focus has always been to transfer these children quickly and safely. Since 10 October 2016, more than 750 children have arrived. This is in line with the commitments made by the Home Secretary to Parliament on 24 October 2016.

Asylum: Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors have been reunited with family members in the UK in each of the past 12 months.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: I am sorry but this answer could only be provided by a manual check of case data and therefore cannot be answered for reasons of disproportionate cost.

Drugs: Misuse

Lord Carlile of Berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish their new drugs strategy.

Lord Carlile of Berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will be consulted in relation to the forthcoming new drugs strategy.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The new Drug Strategy will be published soon. We are developing our new Drug Strategy, which will build on work to date to prevent drug use in our communities and help dependent individuals to recover, working across Government and with key partners, including commissioners, treatment providers, service users and our independent experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to identify what further steps we can take to tackle this issue.

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Lord Carlile of Berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any proposals to change the terms of reference, budget or membership of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: There are no plans to review the role, duty and constitution of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) as set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The budgets for the ACMD are reviewed annually as part of the Home Office business planning round. There are no current plans to change significantly the ACMD budget from current levels although we will continue to ensure the service is value for money in future. The Home Office expects to begin an appointment round for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2017 in line with Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Refugees: Children

Baroness Sheehan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why only three of the 25,800 unaccompanied children reported by Unicef to be in Italy have been transferred to the UK.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe. More children will be transferred under the Immigration Act and we will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation. We have a long standing secondee in Italy who is based in the Italian Dublin Unit. We will announce in due course the process and criteria for transferring more children to the UK from Europe.We continue to work with the Italian authorities to implement section 67 of the Immigration Act, and Immigration Minister met with his counterpart in November to discuss how we can support them; discussions are ongoing. We must secure the consent and cooperation of the host governments concerned before taking any action on their territory and can only act within their laws.

Slavery

Baroness Hamwee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s inspection of Border Force’s identification and treatment of potential victims of modern slavery.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The report was sent to the Home Secretary on 12 December 2016. The Home Office aims to publish all ICI reports within 8 weeks of receiving them.

Asylum: Russia

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many LGBT people seeking asylum have been deported to Russia.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Code of Practice for Official Statistics has established common standards to ensure a coherent and trustworthy service to the user of statistics. Home Office officials are continuing to review and assess information on the number of people claiming asylum where sexual orientation may form the basis of the claim, in order to ensure that any statistics produced meet the principles on both assured methodology and quality (ensuring statistical methods are consistent with scientific principles) and governing user needs.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Sleeping Rough

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many rough sleepers there were in the UK for each of the last three years; and what plans they have to tackle this issue.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. This government is determined to help the most vulnerable in society, which is why we're investing £550 million until 2020 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.As part of this, in December we announced 84 successful bids to our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme. This will help those people at risk of becoming homeless, already sleeping rough or those with complex needs, to get back on their feet.We are going even further and changing the law by backing Bob Blackman MP's Homelessness Reduction Bill. This will mean that people across the country get the help they need to avoid becoming homeless in the first place.DCLG publishes annual statistics on the number of people seen sleeping rough on a single night in England by local authority. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statisticsAs Housing is a devolved matter, rough sleeping statistics for Wales are available here:https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Housing/Homelessness/Rough-SleepersRough sleeping statistics for Scotland can be found here:http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables

Department of Health

NHS: Reserve Forces

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support NHS Trusts to encourage NHS staff to volunteer to join the Armed Forces Reserves.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: The Department is working closely with the Ministry of Defence and NHS Employers to support National Health Service trusts whose staff volunteer, or wish volunteer, in the reserve forces. We ensure NHS employers: - are aware of and understand their responsibilities to support staff who volunteer in the Reserve Forces;- are aware of the resources available to managers, helping them to utilise reservist experience within their teams;- are aware of guidance and support available through Defence Relationship Management; and- are aware of the recognition available to them via the Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme – a scheme that incorporates three levels of award for employers supporting reservists within their organisations.Our future plans to support NHS employers includes: - increasing engagement with NHS trusts and their workforce, promoting the Employer Recognition scheme and encouraging additional take up of the Armed Forced Covenant;- supporting employers through a dedicated NHS Reserve Forces Champions scheme, looking to increase levels of support across England, providing them with a step-by-step guide to support reservists and a poster to show their champions contact details in their work place;- a suite of scenario-based guides for line managers, highlighting the key stages a reservist may go through in their career from joining the Reserve Forces to returning from deployment; and- working in partnership with Health Education England to develop an awareness raising resource that can be utilised at induction, in team briefing or through individual learning. These resources will be released in March 2017 as part of our annual Military March campaign.

Clinical Pharmacologists: Training

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take to prevent Health Education England decommissioning five training posts for clinical pharmacologists.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: Health Education England (HEE) have conducted an in-depth nation-wide review of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT). The report has been discussed with the representatives from each specialty at the Royal College of Physicians Small Specialty Review Workshop to capture their input. HEE Deans have also considered all the proposals from an expert clinical perspective and came to a collective agreement of the final recommendations. Following this work, CPT will be incorporated into Dual Certificate of Completion of Training programmes and become a ‘credential’ for many others. This will embed CPT across all specialties and deliver much greater system expertise to support the research agenda.

Cancer

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect publication of Health Education England’s review of the cancer workforce.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with NHS England and Health Education England regarding staff shortages in the cancer workforce.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase training places for key cancer workforce roles including (1) endoscopists, (2) radiologists, (3) diagnostic radiographers, and (4) clinical nurse specialists.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: Health Education England (HEE) is developing its cancer workforce strategy for consultation from March 2017 onwards. HEE produced an initial workforce baseline review in 2016 and shared it with partners, such as the National Cancer Advisory Group, Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, as a starting point for conversations around the cancer workforce. Ministers regularly meet with HEE to discuss workforce matters, including the progress HEE has made on its commitment to deliver a workforce with the right skills and competences to deliver high-quality modern cancer services. HEE also has representation on the National Cancer Transformation Board, the body responsible for implementing the recommendations of the independent Cancer Taskforce.